Gardening Australia 2025 Episode 13
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Oh, whoo-hoo!
00:06Hey.
00:08Ha-ha!
00:10Ooh!
00:14Whoo-hoo!
00:19Hm?
00:20Hey, bunny.
00:22Hey!
00:23Whoo!
00:25Yeah!
00:28Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia. Did you know it's Botanic Gardens Week
00:39and wherever you are in Australia there's no better time to get out, visit
00:44your local botanic gardens and ignite plenty of inspiration. More on that a
00:50little later but first here's what else is coming your way.
00:55I'm visiting a gardener who's transformed her footpath and is now
01:00dedicated to helping others to sustainably grow their shared spaces.
01:05I'm potting up a stunning Australian wildflower that you'll want to grow too.
01:10There's been a recent outbreak of Queensland fruit fly here in Perth and
01:15it's in all of our interest to eradicate it. I'm getting a behind-the-scenes look
01:20at how a huge estate like Tasmania's Government House is adapting its
01:25Victorian-era heritage gardens to help plan for climate change.
01:35As the intensity of summer flowers fade you may think that the best colour is in
01:41the rearview mirror but Millie is living in the moment with the best colour autumn
01:47can bring.
01:56No matter what season it is in the garden there is always something to
02:01obsess about and for so many in this moment it's autumn colour. As the nights
02:07get colder that is the stimulation for so many of these deciduous exotic trees
02:13to start putting on their autumn show and here in central Victoria in Tilden
02:18we're at high altitude which means cool crisp nights and fantastic colour to
02:24choose for the garden.
02:28How incredible is that colour and that's one of the classic maples and some of
02:34you who watch the autumn colour each year sometimes known as leaf peepers
02:38might have noticed that that red colouring can be different from year to
02:42year. Variations in temperature, soil moisture and sunlight can all influence
02:49the production of the red pigment anthocyanin. Through the warmer summer
02:54months our old friend chlorophyll which is the green pigment actually masks a
02:59lot of this colour but as the autumn comes the tree stops producing and it
03:03starts to break down and it reveals this absolute kaleidoscope.
03:10The lovely yellow tones of some trees are created by carotenoids which are
03:15always present so regardless of the weather they'll put on a show.
03:23There really is a maple for almost any garden situation. They've been cultivated
03:29and bred for such a long time. There's the tough and large trees that you would
03:35use if you had lots of space but there's also all of the Japanese maple varieties
03:39that are fantastic in smaller gardens. There's weeping forms that are grafted
03:44there are red barked forms and of course there's even some shrubs. This is a
03:49variety called Shana it is only a shrub to about two metres high and you can
03:53stick it in almost any garden prune it really hard to get lots of stems and
03:58lots of foliage and the trick with the Japanese maples they're tougher than you
04:02think is to keep them in a sheltered spot. They do want a bit of sunlight to
04:07develop this lovely foliage colour but keep them out of the hottest driest
04:11winds and you'll have gorgeous foliage right through the season.
04:18If you want a small autumn tree for really tough conditions hot and dry this
04:24is such a beautiful variety it's known as the Persian witch hazel or Parotia
04:30and it is a fantastic tree you can see just how gorgeous the tones are it goes
04:35anywhere from orange to red and golden colour and it is incredibly hardy it'll
04:41take the cold as well. Its other common name is Persian ironwood which gives you
04:45a little clue to how this timber was used traditionally but I reckon it is a
04:49great choice for lots of home gardens.
04:57When it comes to gold and yellow tones in the garden Ginkgo biloba is utterly
05:03buttery it is one of the most beautiful plants in the landscape it is an ancient
05:09tree it's also known as the maidenhair tree and you can see the fresh green
05:13foliage looks just like a fern and it is quite a slow-growing tree quite suited
05:19to a lot of city conditions because of that it doesn't get huge quickly but
05:23there's now also a few different forms on the market really narrow upright
05:28varieties and you can even get one grafted as a little dwarf ball on a
05:33stick. I reckon this is one of the most beautiful tones that you can put into
05:37any garden. The Ginkgo is commonly called a living fossil because they have been
05:44around for millennia. They will live for centuries growing into large trees but
05:50given they are also slow-growing they can often be used well in smaller
05:54gardens. The Cotnos are such great plants and they become really popular in
06:02gardens for good reason. I grow this variety Grace up against the house and
06:07parts of it I let get really lanky because then they also flower and it
06:11looks like smoke above the plant that's why they're called the smoke bush. Other
06:14parts I prune really hard to flush out lots of vigorous new growth and you get
06:19lots of color but there are so many varieties to choose from. They are all
06:23different sizes and they all have different needs for cultivation so it's
06:28really worthwhile finding out the best for your location. I think I'm gonna try
06:33this one flame look how gorgeous that orange is and I love this a vibrant
06:38lemon-lime I reckon that's gonna find a place in my garden. It's not only the
06:45ornamental garden that looks great right now there's plenty of edibles that also
06:52provide lots of autumn color. Peaches, persimmons, pomegranates they're all
07:00popping with color and blueberries they're one of my absolute favorite
07:05fruits but also one of my favorite plants particularly these northern high
07:10bush varieties they come from cold climates and of course that means they
07:14have fantastic autumn color. You can see this rich burgundy that happens now
07:18they're gonna go bright orange and red they are delicious in every way.
07:30As gorgeous as they are all of those deciduous exotic plants are putting on
07:37such a show because they're going into dormancy in the cooler climates in the
07:42northern hemisphere it is harsh whereas in Australia so many of our plants are
07:47actually waking up they're dormant in the summer months when it's hot and dry
07:50and autumn and winter can be their most beautiful times. Some of our beautiful
07:56banksias they're budding up right now you've got corriers and crow ears
08:01they're gonna bloom for the next few months and of course there's a gazillion
08:05gravilias to choose from. So never overlook the Australian plants when
08:10you're creating a beautiful autumnal garden.
08:19So whether it is Australian plants that have your heart or these gorgeous
08:24deciduous exotics it is a fantastic time to be choosing new things and getting
08:29them in the ground. So I give you full permission to have an autumn obsession.
08:41What is an easy to grow indoor plant? Well one of the easiest is this it's
08:47called Schlumbergera or Zygocactus or the Christmas cactus and in the cooler
08:53months of the year it has these beautiful flowers a range of colours
08:57from pink to mauve to white and I just think they're beautiful. They're called
09:02Christmas cactus because here in Australia they flower over our winter in
09:06the northern hemisphere they flower in their winter at Christmas time. They're
09:11also really easy to grow from cuttings a flattened leaf like that just with two
09:16separate parts stick it into the compost or the potting mix it'll grow into a
09:20beautiful new plant. What are mycorrhizal fungi and why are they
09:25important for plants? Trees and other types of land plants rely on soil
09:30microbes such as mycorrhizal fungi. Now it is symbiosis at its best as the fungi
09:37provides a multitude of benefits including access to vital micronutrients
09:41protection from pathogens and resistance to drought. Now in turn the host plant
09:46provides the mycorrhizal fungi with the sugar it produces through
09:50photosynthesis and that's how life on earth began. Sounds like a win-win. Why is
09:56my basil turning yellow? Well the main reason is the season. Sweet basil is an
10:02annual plant so it's normal for it to go yellow as we head into winter and this
10:06black is caused by the first frost of the season. If however the weather is
10:11still warm and your basil is turning yellow chances are it's a nutritional
10:14problem so give it some liquid fertilizer add some compost and make
10:20sure you don't over water it. If you think you've got time you could even cut
10:24it back and it should reshoot before the end of the season.
10:33If I say the word verge what do you imagine? Curbside bins, parked cars, mowing
10:40and edging? Or if you're like me do you see potential for a productive garden
10:46planting for pollinators and community? Well Gerry's found a kindred curbside
10:52gardener and I can't wait for you to meet them.
10:58I'm in a fairly typical suburban Brisbane street with weedy lawns and
11:04standalone street trees in Bridgman Downs about 15 kilometres north of the
11:10city. However out the front of one house is a footpath garden that the owner Gail
11:15Dalliston believes is the blueprint to turn our urban areas green. So Gail this
11:23was once grass. All grass. What made you decide to change it? I got rid of all of
11:29the grass inside the garden so this was the only thing I had to mow and I hated
11:33mowing it. The council policy had just come in to allow us to do gardening
11:36instead so I thought well that's what I'll do. I'll replace the grass with a
11:40garden. So where did you begin? I've got basically four garden beds because it's
11:44cut by the driveway and the footpath. So I started on the smallest least
11:48contentious space to try it out and see how people would react and see how I'd
11:54react as well and whether I liked gardening out there in public. When I
11:57first started I asked the council for a street tree. Brisbane City Council chose
12:02a Queensland brush box tree for the site. Their arborists decide what tree
12:07should go there and I planted midgenberry around the base. I planted
12:10Westringer because they make nice neat balls which fits in with the
12:14neighbourhood. I planted some ground covers, a mixture of dicondra and native
12:19violets and mazus which works really well to hold everything in place. Makes a
12:24green living mulch. Now this is popularly sold as a wetland plant or for planting
12:29around ponds. I didn't really expect it to do well. It was a bit of an experiment
12:33but it's a heavy clay soil. It's south facing and it's fairly well shaded so
12:38it's done amazingly well. I did dianellas but away from the path. You've got to be
12:44really careful putting strappy leaves near paths because they can be trip
12:47hazards and I've filled in gaps with paper daisies and that pedestrians love
12:51paper daisies. You see them reach out and touch it when they walk by. And nothing
12:54spiny? Nothing spiky. You have to think about how it's going to affect people
12:59that are walking by. One of the things I love is the way you've got a little gap
13:04so that people can safely cross the road and there's also a little area through
13:09the footpath garden where the postie can come and deliver mail. I watched the
13:13postie and I watched the route that he took and I thought well that's
13:17the path.
13:24The importance of everything that you've planted is that it's good for
13:29sightlines so pedestrians can see cars and vice versa so that the space is
13:35safe to use. I think it has to be low-growing naturally. I've got a dwarf
13:39calistomons and the little John calistomons they're made for this sort
13:43of height. So if you choose the right plants there's very little in it.
13:47Slightly taller ones like the crinums against the fence they're not out in
13:51front of the verge so they don't block views. How long did it take you to plant
13:56this out? About eight months overall. The first thing I noticed was the
13:59different sorts of conversations you have on the verge and people would just
14:03stop and say what are you doing and you say I'm planting a garden. They'd say
14:06what's that plant and that made me realise it's a very special place. After
14:11transforming this strip of weedy turf Gail immediately recognised the
14:15environmental aspects of putting a garden on the footpath. There's always
14:20native bees out here. I've seen the blue tongues wander out from the garden in
14:24under the myoporum because it creates a canopy for them. It's got those little
14:28berries that they eat. There's these fairy wrens and even the noisy fry bird
14:33sometimes is out here on the bushes. There's a noisy fry bird nest in the
14:37street tree. Your footpath garden has some standout successes and the first
14:42thing that draws my attention are the brush box trees. Both of the street trees
14:47went in at the same time, mine and my neighbours, and I watered them both at
14:50the same time as well. But mine has got the verge garden around it which
14:54protects it from the mowing. The neighbouring one has got grass so it's
14:58fighting for water and nutrients and the whippersnipper goes and attacks the
15:02trunk. So the difference in them now is amazing. So footpath gardens grow better
15:09street trees. Absolutely. It means the trees survive for a start and then they
15:14thrive. Have there been any other people that have taken up your idea? Not really.
15:19There are a few who offered to let me go and do theirs but they still seem to
15:23think that it's too much work or they don't know where to start. So I searched
15:27around to try and find out why people don't do it and I looked at the disputes
15:32as well which can be really dramatic when there's a verge dispute. The urban
15:36food street precinct was developed without the appropriate permits covering
15:40public liability so workers moved in yesterday chopping and mulching a number
15:46of plots. Why do you think disputes happen? When people feel like you're
15:51taking over that space for yourself they get upset. Which I can understand. It's
15:57not an extension to your garden. It's not an apron to your house. It's part of the
16:00corridor of this whole street and the whole city really. It's part of the
16:05you know pollinator corridors and transport corridors. Using her own verge
16:12experience as a guide Gail now runs a project that helps home gardeners work
16:17through what councils need the space to adhere to. So I created websites to
16:24explain to people this is how you do it. The first step is always to check your
16:28local council policy. You've got to stay within the policy. If your council hasn't
16:32got a policy you've got to wait until they have one. Every council policy is
16:37different. The next thing is I have on my website an understanding the space set
16:41of articles to try and help people understand what's different about this
16:45space. The reasons why we have to garden differently in this area. What's special
16:51about it. Why you can only do that bit in front of your house and not not some
16:55other piece of land that just looks like it needs converting. Mostly these policies
17:01concern safety, public safety, traffic safety. It's nearly always safety and risk
17:06and ongoing maintenance. It's quite restrictive and it has to be. So you help
17:12people understand their space and plan a garden. How about sourcing the material
17:19to go into the garden. Go to your local community nursery and then you get local
17:23native plants that are suited to your soil and your climate and they're cheap.
17:27You get little tube stocks for a couple of dollars so there's no big risk of
17:30buying a really expensive plant and then somebody coming you treading on it or
17:34even stealing it. Not only is Gail's footpath garden unique in her street
17:40it's design is really important. It's totally practical. It's affordable which
17:47means maintenance is sustainable into the long term. Crucially it's totally
17:53uncontroversial which means that council officials and local neighbours are
17:57unlikely to be upset by its presence. Most importantly of all it's scalable
18:04and that means every city around the country could roll these out. We could do
18:11it very quickly and very cheaply. We just have to get out there and start planting.
18:28Tylotus are a group of fabulous Australian wildflowers and they're
18:33commonly called mullah mullah. The genus contains more than a hundred species of
18:39annual and perennial herbs and shrubs and whilst they're found across
18:43Australia from far north Queensland to South Australia and Tassie most of the
18:47diversity occurs in Western Australia. In their natural habitat they come and go
18:52with the rains. They grow on rocky slopes, gravelly, clay or stony plains and sand dunes.
19:00This is Tylotus rotundifolius. Rotundifolius means fat foliage and just the leaves are so tactile.
19:09They're soft, velvety and plush and then contrasting them with all these beautiful
19:14purple conical flowers. It's such a great combination.
19:19This one's Tylotus callistachys. I love that it's on thin wiry stems so the flowers look like
19:32they're floating in air and it's also got quite a bit of height to it. It's just delightful.
19:40This is Tylotus able star and it's got these sweet globular flowers in soft pastel colours.
19:50They make great cut flowers and also dried flowers too. It's no wonder varieties like
19:58these are grown commercially for the florist trade but you can also have a go at home.
20:02I'm growing Tylotus magenta. It has these beautiful feathery flowers. Now it is a
20:13short-lived perennial so you can treat it like an annual and replant each spring.
20:16I'm filling my pot with a well-draining native potting mix. Now I'm gently taking the Tylotus
20:29out of its plastic pot, taking care to minimise root disturbance and planting into my new pot
20:42at the same depth in the soil as it was in the old pot. I'm topping the soil with a layer of
20:48crushed sandstone to replicate its favoured growing conditions. It's the mineral silica
20:54in the sandstone which strengthens plant cells, perfect for wildflowers in pots.
20:58It'll grow in temperate, semi-arid or arid climates and it loves a sunny dry spot,
21:08preferably undercover where it can be protected from downpours. Too much water
21:13can cause root rot and fungal problems so make sure it dries out in between waterings.
21:18It's gorgeous and I can pick the flowers to enjoy indoors and that'll encourage
21:28more blooms throughout the season. Of all the pests that strike terror into a productive
21:42gardener's heart, fruit fly would have to be at the top of the list. A recent
21:48Red Alert in Perth has Josh jumping to action. Picking fruit that's clearly not ripe? I suspect
22:00you might have questions. Late last year Queensland fruit fly was detected in suburbs near Fremantle
22:08close to my house, putting us in what's been declared the red zone. This meant all host
22:14crops had to be removed. I'm not going to sugar coat it, this has been hard.
22:25Queensland fruit fly, or Q fly for short, is an insect native to Queensland and a pest in most
22:32other states of Australia. WA is typically free of it. We have had outbreaks in the past
22:37but have managed to get rid of it. With this latest outbreak, the race is on to eradicate it.
22:46Like the vast majority of gardeners in the red zone, I've been following the advice of the WA
22:51Department of Primary Industry and Regional Development in removing all my fruit before
22:57it ripened. The aim is to stop the pest reproducing and spreading to avoid impacting home gardeners
23:04and commercial growers across the state. Deep Herd's Chief Plant Biosecurity Officer,
23:12Vincent Lamoiselet, is leading the state's Q fly response. So Queensland fruit fly is a very small
23:18fly, about six to eight millimetres long. It's got a reddish torso with a little bit of yellow
23:23patches onto it and it's got clear wings. It's a very devastating pest of fruit and vegetables.
23:30When you have Q fly, they basically lay eggs into your fruit or vegetable and then you've got
23:36larvae that hatch and basically the fruit gets all rotten and it's full of maggots.
23:42The bulk of the work was done early in summer when most of my fruit trees and vines started
23:47to produce. But it's important to be vigilant, so I'm doing a follow-up removal of fruits like
23:53citrus and guava that are still producing. The guidance for unripe fruit is to place it into
23:59double-lined garbage bags to contain any pests. So the red zone is basically what we call the
24:07outbreak area or the corrective action zone. So this is basically the area about 1.5 kilometres
24:14from where we had the detection of the Q flies. This is where the department is actively working
24:20with the community and the local government to try to eradicate Q fly. And residents need to
24:26strip all fruit and vegetable that are host of Q fly. Fruit must not move out of the red zone.
24:33There is another zone which is the orange zone and that's basically a buffer zone if you want.
24:38And this is where we haven't detected any Q fly but we still want to make sure that people do not
24:45move fruit. This mulberry is putting on a second flush of fruit and it's coming on fast. In fact
24:52some is already beginning to ripen up and I want to make the most of it.
24:59Ripe fruits can be eaten straight away, cooked or frozen to kill the pest. I'll stew these ripe
25:05mulberries for dessert. I'm removing the unripe ones by pruning and stripping the fruit for disposal.
25:15The bagged fruit should be tied up tightly and placed into a sunny spot for at least seven days
25:21so the heat kills any pests that might be present.
25:25After this the bag should be put into the rubbish bin, not the green waste bin or home compost.
25:34How was the outbreak first detected? So we have more than 2,000 traps that are permanently
25:38deployed across the whole metro area and also across our growing region
25:43and that enables us to pick up any outbreak very early.
25:47So actually this is one of the traps that I've been talking about and this is what we use to
25:51monitor the Q fly and that enables us to track the male Q fly and when we find one that helps
25:59us to find out if we do have an outbreak or not. So the next step is to kill the flies.
26:04We want to make sure that they are gone. We have staff that are working every day to conduct a
26:10baiting program within the red zone. They use an organic insecticide which will attract the female
26:16Q fly and kills them. The next step is that our same staff will be deploying some lures that this
26:22time will attract male Q fly and again kill them. If you see any of those traps or any of those lures
26:29please do not interfere with them. So what's the main difference between the Mediterranean
26:34fruit fly, which is well established here in Perth and in people's gardens,
26:38and the Q fly? So Q fly has a broader host range. It can attack more than 300 fruit and vegetable
26:45and the big difference is basically if people start to find maggots or larvae inside a tomato,
26:51capsicum or chilli, we really want to know about it because it's likely to be Q fly and therefore
26:56we encourage people to contact us through the My Pest Guy reporter app or by phoning us directly
27:02through the Pest and Disease Information Service.
27:08And as always the Gardening Australia website has great info on how to tackle fruit fly
27:16and links to the latest updates on the Perth Q fly outbreak. We have to wait for at least three
27:21months after the last Q fly has been caught in one of our traps. After three months without any
27:27fly being caught that will prove that the whole population has been eradicated
27:31and then we can reclaim area freedom for the whole state.
27:35Even in an event like this it's good to look for the positives. I've taken the opportunity to get
27:43in early with some hard pruning of my mandarin and pomegranate trees to bring them down to a
27:49more manageable height. Knowing that I would have had to remove the fruit anyway made this an easier
27:55decision. It's also a great reminder of the practical benefits of dwarf and trellis fruit
28:01trees because it's so easy to pick the fruit either harvesting to eat or picking for destruction.
28:08Now while the emergency measures that we've covered today only apply to a targeted area of Perth at
28:14the moment it's a great example of the importance of shared responsibility when responding to events
28:21like this. Still to come on Gardening Australia. I look at one of the most playful plantings in
28:29Australia. Sophie shows how to keep salvias blooming beautifully and we meet gardeners of
28:38all ages helping to protect vulnerable plant species through a project led by a botanic garden
28:45in Melbourne.
29:00House plants are a great way to add vibrancy to your home and they don't just look good they really are tough and hardy and it's claimed that they can even make you feel better.
29:14So one of the most popular at the moment is the peperomia and I have a good story to tell you
29:20about the peperomia. Way back in the 1970s when I worked in a nursery there was a fella working in
29:27the nursery and his name was Gary. He started a collection of peperomias. He was the peperomia
29:33king in those days and at that stage there was only one. Well look at the variety now there are loads of them.
29:42This large group of plants thrive in moderate to bright light. They do stay compact and they're low
29:48maintenance. This is peperomia obtusifolia albomarginata and it's one of my favourites.
29:57It has smooth fleshy foliage with white variegation giving it a marble like appearance
30:03and the thick semi-succulent leaves have a waxy coating. It makes them super drought hardy.
30:10Peperomias do like well-drained soil and the big thing about peperomias as well as most
30:15indoor plants people kill them with kindness. Don't over water them, let them dry out in between
30:22waterings. For something with a bit of shimmer these peperomia caperata with deeply rippled
30:29leaves are quite striking. They come in so many colours including this burgundy, also emerald and
30:36silver. Their corrugated leaves look almost metallic from some angles. Occasionally you might see a
30:43peperomia that sends up a flowering spike and that looks like this. It looks a bit like a
30:49rat's tail. They don't happen very much but when they do if you don't like the look you just pinch
30:54them off. I rather like them though, I think they're quite attractive but they're beaut plants altogether.
31:00Another interesting peperomia variety are these alba vitata ranaverde which means green frog and
31:08you can see why. They're characterised by glossy green almost heart-shaped leaves and they're held
31:15up by contrasting pale red petioles. I love these peperomias, they're really good because the leaves
31:21come from the centre and I just like that look. You'll find that all peperomias are low, they're
31:27compact and they're really low in maintenance. Don't over water them and you will find that you
31:32learn to love a peperomia and they come in such an array of species and varieties. There's one
31:37you're bound to love.
31:46Much like architecture our historic gardens can record and replicate a moment in time.
31:52Hannah's visiting a historic garden that's cultivating a climate ready future.
31:58This is the iconic Government House Tasmania in Nipaluna Hobart, home to the state's governor
32:04and an incredible heritage protected Victorian era garden. The garden takes up about a third
32:11of the 15 hectare estate which has beautiful views to the River Derwent. Tara Edmondson is
32:17the estate gardens manager. Okay so we're going to have a look at the estate gardens manager
32:23Tara Edmondson is the estate gardens manager. Okay so we're going to have a look at this high
32:29profile space here. But while the estate is steeped in history Tara is passionate about
32:34preparing for the future. She's focused on taking steps to adapt for climate change
32:39to future-proof the gardens while also preserving their heritage. Tara these gardens date back to
32:45the 1860s. What have you actually got here? We've got a bit of everything actually. The garden is
32:51really typical of Victorian landscape design. They're really formal close to the house like
32:57we have here. And as we move away from the house the landscape relaxes and we get into what we call
33:03our pleasure gardens. And food production has been a really important part of daily life here at
33:08Government House. A bit of everything hey? Yeah it is there's a lot happening. Yeah and I understand
33:14they're all heritage listed. All of the special features the historic elements that make up this
33:19garden are protected by Heritage Tasmania. And in the context of planning for climate change
33:25how do you act and think within those heritage guidelines? It's a balancing act. We do have
33:32guidelines that we try to adhere to provided by Heritage Tasmania. But in some cases that requires
33:39a little bit of modification whereas the guidelines might suggest that we have to replace plants like
33:43for like. If we think you know ahead another hundred years it might be the case that those
33:49plants won't thrive. And so we choose plants that will provide a similar feel or look or shape.
33:57So Hannah this is our meadow planting. An experiment by our garden team. We're thinking
34:04of ways that we can create a more resilient garden for the future with climate change in mind.
34:10Increasing biodiversity and also thinking more thoughtfully about how we manage our resources.
34:16So there used to be just lawn here but you've done this trial where you have incredible diversity
34:22compared to the lawn there's less water and less food required but you get more life more diversity
34:28and more beauty. Totally yeah. And it's so alive here it's just pumping. It is it's really great
34:35it was an intention that we increase biodiversity close to the house and we're witnessing that every
34:40day. So we're here on the south side of the estate amongst our beautiful collection of Quercus Ruba
34:52doing really well for the past 150 years. So beautiful they're glorious aren't they?
34:58So this planting actually predates the construction of Government House
35:02and we believe they were planted around the 1840s. So they're getting on a bit now aren't they?
35:06They are yeah we could might think they're middle-aged. Oak trees in Australia can live to
35:13around three or four hundred years and as we think with climate change in our mind and preserving
35:19these trees into warmer climates we're looking at alternatives that we can manage and promote their
35:25longevity. The lawn here that would have been traditionally mown fortnightly we now have
35:32allowed to grow up and establish and that helps us to retain some protection moisture close to
35:38the root zones and in the autumn time when we collect all the leaf litter for composting we now
35:46retain the oak leaves here in situ so that they can add to the soil profile over time and compost
35:53and again it's another way of encouraging biodiversity around that root zone. And what's
35:57your succession plan for these trees? This species may not do so well but we can choose varieties
36:03that have a similar feel and look so they preserve the heritage value of the garden
36:09but they are more climate resilient so species like Quercus suba, Quercus ilex,
36:15the evergreen oaks we know will do better into the future.
36:22And what does the prediction say for this area of Tasmania? What are we expecting to
36:26see in the next decades? So we can expect that the temperature will rise the instance of
36:33heavy rainfall periods and then followed by periods of drought will increase and that's
36:39where it's tricky to manage and plan for a garden that will thrive in those extreme conditions it's
36:46the extreme temperatures numerous days perhaps for Tasmania that are getting close to 30.
36:51You know how is the garden going to survive those days? I reckon most of Australia might
36:56be laughing at you're going to have consecutive days of close to 30 degrees that's a big deal
37:00for our plant community down here isn't it? It is it is and many trees don't want to in their
37:06lifetime transition through a period of a three degree increase so once we start experiencing
37:13that there's so many other maintenance techniques that we need to start to employ to allow those
37:19trees or plants to thrive. And when it comes to water on this estate currently you're connected
37:26to mains water but in the future how might that evolve? We're hoping into the future to be able
37:32to use the body of water that's actually behind us here our large quarry pond and also outside our
37:37fence line there's recycled water that's running past here that we may be able to tap into.
37:44So Hannah this is our quarry pond garden and actually stone was excavated from this site
37:51to build Government House itself. Wow and you've done quite a bit of thinking around plant selection
37:56here and succession planning in particular. Yes we've moved away from the florals that you've seen
38:02closer to the house and we're looking at more hardy shrub plants and we've actually got eucalypt
38:08and we're looking at more hardy shrub plants and we've actually got eucalypt species that
38:13are getting towards the end of their life cycle eucalyptus viminalis and eucalyptus obliqua.
38:19We've actually chosen to plant now in anticipation of them needing to be removed
38:24some species of carimbia maculata so a relative of the eucalypt more common on the east coast of
38:31Victoria and into New South Wales and they'll grow very quickly and replace those eucalyptus
38:37when needed in time. And of course natives are made for this climate so they're going to
38:43evolve with it as it changes more easily. Yeah they're so perfectly suited to our climate and
38:49you know more resilience as our climate adapts may tolerate periods of drought as well into the
38:55future and of course they have that natural relationship with our native soils. We're always
39:02trying to find opportunities where we can increase our native planting population and we
39:08can in this formal setting integrate them with our exotic perennial borders that we see and an example
39:15of that is sort of behind us with the Pymelia nivia you know tight clipping mirrors what we can
39:20see in the adjacent exotic borders. Food security in a changing climate is another challenge Tara
39:28is tackling. The kitchen garden and orchard supplies the estate chefs with fresh produce
39:33for their various functions held at government house. So Tara you've always had an edible garden
39:39here but is having a food garden becoming more important in a changing climate? It is and this
39:46garden can help with community food security. There were some really traditional agricultural
39:51practices happening in this space and this garden has had a lot of production over many years and we
39:57could see the deterioration of the soil. Looking around here I can see lots of veggies but I can
40:04also see lots of flowers. Yeah it's a really deliberate choice that we're making here in
40:08the garden and encouraging a more ecological approach. Introducing flowers will encourage
40:14beneficial insects into the garden but it also promotes fungal activity and the mycorrhizal
40:19activity in the top layers of our soil profile. I love your focus on soil because healthy soil
40:25equals healthy plants equals healthy people. Totally. So good.
40:32It's been fascinating to see how lots of little changes on such a huge estate can be applied to
40:38create resilient landscapes for our future. Be it alternative water sources, composting,
40:45turning manicured lawns into meadows or adjusting your plant choices. There is something here that
40:51every gardener can take and apply to their own patch
40:54so that together we can all have flourishing gardens even in a changing climate.
41:22There's so many things to love about plants. The shade and shelter they offer. They bring
41:27in the birds and the bees and of course look how many of them are edible. But of all of these
41:32benefits there's one that's commonly overlooked. Their ability to be playful.
41:38Their ability to be playful.
41:50The Ian Potter Children's Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne celebrates its 21st
41:56birthday this year and there's no doubt it's become a much-loved hub for nature-based play
42:03as well as a great place for kids to be intrigued and delighted by the beauty of plants.
42:11The entire children's garden has been scaled for kids and you'll find some of the most fun
42:17foliage in the country right here. One of the first features that hits you right in the heart
42:23are the incredible and iconic snow gums nestled in amongst the slices of local basalt or bluestone.
42:31Where they grow naturally above the snow line in Alpine Australia, snow gums develop their
42:37twisted sculptural form in response to the harsh elements. Constant wind, cold and snow.
42:45Now they won't do this in more temperate climates but you can train them to do it and what that
42:51involves is pruning and shaping at a young age but it also gives you the chance to weigh them
42:58down with a brick and that will help get the branches horizontal and give you that child-like
43:04scale that we're looking for. Playfulness in the garden means thinking at children height,
43:12not adult height. Even though we think about pruning in adult context, we have to leave the
43:18branches down low and encourage them to thicken up so that when the children come through this
43:24paperbark tunnel, they feel like it's literally wrapping against them everywhere they move.
43:30The gardeners and the horticulturists, they've literally pruned it in a way that the branches
43:35have been twined at the top and then any new foliage cascades down and they tip prune that
43:41to keep it nice and dense so that the children have to move through and scratch against it and
43:47feel like they're entering somewhere and of course with a paperbark, you just want to peel
43:51it and feel it like paper and as you move through, you get the colours,
43:55the sense of light and dark and it leads you to the next point in the garden. Let's go.
44:04And here we have the same paperbarks pruned differently instead of the foliage being the
44:10feature, the trunks are the superstars and they just invite you to run through.
44:22As I came running through here, I couldn't help but stop and appreciate being in the presence
44:31of these iconic Easy Grow Aussie trees. This is the Queensland Bottle Tree and while it doesn't
44:37require that much effort from you to get it underway, once they're up, you can't help but
44:45appreciate that these have been planted in a way so that you can't quite see what's ahead of you
44:51which kind of inspires me to want to play hide and seek. There's so many reasons to grow different
45:01plants but the only limit on how you can use them is your imagination so why not let this
45:08children's garden inspire you to have a bit of fun with your next planting. At the end of the day,
45:16you're only as young as you feel.
45:27Salvia's are favourites of mine. They're tough plants that love full sun and many will take
45:33frost and drought. With so many varieties to choose from, there's bound to be one to suit your garden
45:39and with all these beautiful flowers, the bees and beneficial insects will love them too.
45:45This is Salvia murii from South Africa with these dainty blue and white flowers which are produced
45:50virtually all year round. This established shrub is over a metre high and with all this woody
45:56growth, you might think it's an evergreen shrub but it's actually a herbaceous perennial. Strictly
46:03speaking, that means any plant that lives at least three growing seasons and it's a term widely used
46:09to describe longer-lived plants with non-woody growth that replenish either continually or in
46:15yearly cycles. When a salvia is this big, it can be hard for gardeners to think about cutting it
46:21all down but that's exactly what needs to happen. This plant hasn't been pruned for a few years and
46:27it's got leggy and getting rid of the plant's old growth redirects its energy into next season's new
46:33growth. To do this, cut it back hard down to around 50 centimetres. This might seem drastic
46:41but new growth will reshoot from the cut points. Now that I've pruned all the thick woody stems
46:47with my loppers, I'll tidy the rest of the plant up with head shears. Even if you can't visually
46:54see the nodes, trust the plant. By cutting back, the natural hormones in the plant will trigger
47:00new growth. It looks rather brutal but this salvia will love it and it will respond really
47:07well. Salvias are tough customers and if you can prune them every year, they'll respond with fresh,
47:13healthy, vigorous growth and an abundance of flowers. This week, botanic gardens across
47:26Australia and New Zealand are celebrating their 10th botanic gardens week. The theme this year
47:33is guardians of the green and there are events taking place right across the country
47:38to showcase the incredible work that they do.
47:46At the Cranbourne site of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, a program involving local
47:52schools has been running for two years. It sees students taking an active part in the
47:58conservation of some rare native plants. What I do is I just give it a little squeeze.
48:05Just a little tap. The Raising Rarity School Program is a citizen science plant conservation
48:13program, really looking at how students can support the gardens and the work that the
48:17gardens is doing in collecting data and also seed of particular threatened species across the state.
48:26So the plant that our school is raising is called Xerocrysum palustra or Swamp Everlasting.
48:31The best part of the Raising Rarity Program so far has been the kind of responsibility that's
48:37been put upon us. We're helping to cultivate a plant, create a new colony almost of plants that
48:44they can come back to if anything could ever happen to the botanic gardens here or the seed
48:48bank. And so we wanted students to connect with a threatened species that was local to their area.
48:54Dispel that myth that you can't grow rare and threatened species. So Raising Rarity is about
49:00helping threatened species like plants and maybe even animals try to become more, we'd like to
49:07repopulate them and make them more popular into like the wild again. So we are doing the
49:12grey billybuttons and I'd really like to help them be not threatened anymore and try to make them
49:17back into like a more popular zone. A threatened species from the wild, the grey billybutton,
49:25scientific name Caspidia canin. And the Caspidia canin has this yellow pom-pom almost and has
49:36about 1,000 little flowers inside which creates the pom-pom shape and it grows on a big stem.
49:42So it's kind of like you put a pom-pom on the end of a pipe cleaner almost.
49:48And it has these silvery green leaves which is where it gets the name grey billybutton.
49:59The students attend workshops to discover how to identify the species,
50:04then learn to grow, study and collect seed for the Royal Botanic Garden staff who then germinate it.
50:11We as a school felt we wanted to get involved because it's a fantastic opportunity to get
50:15involved in practical conservation where you can grow something, the students can be involved over
50:20a prolonged period of time and have a beginning, a middle and an end and really feel like they
50:25made a difference. Just using one of these seed bags we just pop it over. So as a part of the
50:31program we have a garden bed at our school, we plant any new plants, we water them on a weekly
50:39basis. We can observe their behaviour and if it changes so like their reaction to different
50:46weather conditions, different nutrients in the soil. We measure their height and we check their
50:52growth for how they're budding, if they're producing seeds and then if they do produce
50:57seeds we capture them with little bags and we store them, bring them back to the
51:03Botanic Gardens for them to sow.
51:08It's kind of as if you have a baby and you're watching it slowly grow up to a toddler and then
51:13further on where it leaves out of your hands, that's kind of what it felt like because you have
51:18the little seedling and you slowly grow it up to an adult area where it has the flower and it's
51:24blooming and then seeding and then you have to hand it over to the team.
51:30They're a bit like the seeds of a dandelion, the same kind of hairy structure.
51:36But here we're doing a community engagement where the kids who live locally, the plant just occurs
51:41down the road, can actually be really part of that. After growing at their school they're just
51:46really compelled to go and find it, like little plant detectives. You're increasing botanical
51:52knowledge, you're getting kids really engaged in growing with threatened species.
51:57So there's this effect called the Jenga effect, it's like a game of Jenga.
52:00You have so and so animals and each brick is an animal or species. If you take out too many,
52:07say they go extinct or they're getting threatened so there's not enough of them,
52:11the whole game will fall. So that's why it's so important for us to make sure we keep these
52:17species in or else the whole game will just fall and it won't work anymore.
52:23Best thing about this program is that everyone can be involved and everybody can play a part.
52:30We have this blue sky dream that every school in the state is growing
52:33threatened species, that would be the ultimate.
52:36Going by how these students have just picked up and run with this program, part of me just feels
52:43relieved about where we're going in the future and how
52:47these students just really are equipped to take us there.
52:52When I see the plants growing and flowering, I feel really good because we've done that,
52:58we've actually put in the time, we've put in the work, we've tracked their growth for so long and
53:04when they flower it's just all our work culminating into one beautiful thing. It's so powerful.
53:13Bend and stretch and reach for your secateurs because it's time for your jobs for the weekend.
53:33Apricots should be pruned now as their leaves start to yellow and fall.
53:38Pruning ahead of winter helps avoid gummosis, a damaging bacteria.
53:43It's the most wonderful time of the year, chestnut season.
53:47Remember, they're not fully ripe until they drop.
53:51As the seasons turn, remove any dead or diseased plant material now
53:56to stop problems in the garden.
53:58Remove any dead or diseased plant material now to stop problems carrying over into winter.
54:05In warm temperate areas, give your hedging plants a light tip prune to keep them nice and compact.
54:11Gather up the clippings, wet down and leave in a pile and you'll be on your way to creating
54:17leaf mould. This garden gold can be used in potting mix, as mulch or as a soil improver.
54:25Sow fenugreek seeds now. This knockout aromatic herb punches well above its weight in flavour
54:32and can also be used as a green manure crop.
54:36In the subtropics, propagate evergreen trees and shrubs like rosemary, camellia and gardenia
54:43by semi-hardwood cuttings. If you've got a blank wall in your garden, look for native epiphytes.
54:49Think bird's nest fern, elkhorns and staghorns. They'll all grow happily mounted vertically.
54:57If you've been craving cool climate crops like apples and pears, why not try out a nashy pear?
55:04Low-chill varieties like tropical sunshu or shinsuke will thrive in your climate,
55:10fruiting in just a few years.
55:13In the tropics, it can be an unpredictable time for rain.
55:17Regularly monitor soil moisture level by sticking your finger into the soil
55:22up to the first knuckle and adjusting watering as needed. As wind picks up,
55:28plants can really cop it. Get out there and prune off any broken or damaged limbs
55:34before the bark tears and gets worse.
55:38If you've got a pond or water feature, why not plant out a native blue water lily?
55:43Native to the top end of the country, nymphia violacea produces stunning purple-blue blooms.
55:52In arid areas, we're entering the danger period for frosts. If one happens at your place,
55:58resist the temptation to prune damaged material until the frost has passed. Burnt leaves help
56:05insulate those underneath. As rain decreases, remember to increase your water to fruit trees.
56:13Water deeply but less often as this encourages roots to seek out deeper soils.
56:19Protein-packed, full of iron, decorative seed heads, stores well in the pantry
56:24and popular with budgies, millet can be broadcast into your garden now.
56:31If you want to revisit anything in tonight's episode, head over to the Gardening Australia
56:36website. Can you believe that we've pruned and planted our way right out of time?
56:48But you know where you'll find me again next week, right here in the garden. I'll see you then.
56:56A suburb in Sydney known for house and garden designs by Walter Burley Griffin and his wife
57:01Marion has provided the inspiration for a beautifully thought out small plot.
57:06Now I'm finding out how inspiration from the past is informing the present.
57:11I'm meeting a gardener who's 91 years young and she lives by the maxim,
57:16never stop gardening and she's an inspiration to us all.
57:20And Millie's got some hot tips for growing a spicy crop.
57:24But if you want to harvest some really quality horseradish every now and then you need to divide
57:29it.